Mariko had a research background in swallowing disorders at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign prior to beginning her clinical career, which included extensive experience with modified barium swallow studies and other instrumentation that measured various aspects of normal human swallowing.
With over 20 years of experience as a speech-language pathologist in the acute inpatient, inpatient rehab and outpatient settings, Mariko currently holds licensure in South Dakota and Washington state, as well as national certification from ASHA. She has been certified to provide Vital Stim therapy for swallowing rehabilitation since 2004 and introduced this treatment modality to this region in 2022.
Mariko received her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Teachers College, Columbia University. She also received her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).